Rowling warns fans about fake HP merchandise

JK Rowling, author of the Harry Potter books, has updated her web site with a warning to all her fans about the fraudulent number of autographed & unauthorised items that have appeared for sale on eBay.

From the update:

A recent perusal of the e-Bay stocks of 'signed' Harry Potter merchandise was quite alarming for the person who allegedly signed these stacks of books, posters and even, in one case, an unauthorised biography that I would never, and have never, put my signature to. As far as I could tell on the day I dropped in, only one of the signatures on offer appeared genuine. There seem to be a lot of people out there trying to con Harry Potter fans. The same is true in respect to the huge number of unauthorised Harry Potter e-Books and audio digital files that users of e-Bay have offered for sale to Harry Potter fans.

I would be delighted if the online community of Harry Potter fans canvassed e-Bay directly, asking that they be protected against this exploitation.